Second Encounter
by Koragg
Summary: DG meets the former advisor to the queen.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note:** This story is continuning from First Encounter, but you should be able to read it with out having read that. Sorry about jumping about so much in this chapter.

Second Encounter

Chapter 1

A man in tattered clothes was tied to the top of a cage weaved out of sticks, trying to figure out how he had gotten up there in the first place.

Hm, there was woods, and a net, and some little people……..

That was it! He was captured by a munchkin tribe while he was walking through the forest. Well, why was he walking through the forest anyway?

Oh, look. There was a girl in here too. She was sitting right below him, so he couldn't see her face and she couldn't see him right now. She had some really dark hair, and some weird clothes. Where did she get that jacket? He shook his head at his erratic thought pattern, that was where he had got his name. Glitch.

He was pulled back to the present as her locket was dropped the hundred or so feet to the ground and she yelled about it.

"You guys are out of your tiny little minds!" she loudly called after the munchkins that had been speaking to her.

Glitch quietly watched as she sighed at her lost trinket and started to look around the cage.

Uh-oh. Um, she was looking at him with a really bright blue set of eyes. He adverted his own as best as he could. Man, was that a piercing gaze if he ever saw one.

"What are you doing--"

He nervously cut in, "Up here?" she nodded and the tattered man took his cue to continue, "Well, the little- ANKLE-BITERS!" He yelled in the direction of the far off culprits. "They thought it would be funny to keep me hanging around."

Glitch glanced down at her. Maybe she would help him? It was worth a try.

"Loosen that rope and I might have the last laugh." he said with a friendly grin.

The strangely dressed girl looked at the rope, then back at him, but didn't move to undo it. Obviously thinking twice about helping him.

He said he knew the way to Central City and would guide her there. Normally she would never trust someone she didn't know, but this was different, she didn't know anyone here and she really wanted to find her parents and go back to her boring life.

And so, DG had unknotted the rope tied to the bar and the strange man was lowered to the floor. As he had caught his balance and slid off the coil around his thin waist she noticed he had a zipper in the middle of his head. Once asked about it, he had told her the sorceress Azkadilla had removed his brain because of what he had known. What a crazy place….

"The name's Glitch, I'm called that because sometimes my synapses don't fire right." He smiled, then his face went oddly blank, "sometimes my synapses don't fire right." he smiled again.

Now she raised her eyebrow, was he ok? "You just said that"

Confusion swept his features "Did I? Well, there I go, glitching again!"

"Well I'm DG." she said offering her hand for a handshake. Glitch jerked his head and shook it a few times like a dog ridding itself of water.

Ok then. She lowered her hand.

After swinging out of the cage and climbing quickly down the small ladder they ran through the forest as quietly as they could.

Glitch was pondering what had happened when she had introduced herself. Instead of hearing her voice, he had heard the sing-sing voice of a child.


	2. Chapter 2: Dreams

Second Encounter

Chapter 2 : Dreams

"_Ambrose." a young voice stretched out playfully. "Ambrose."_

_He turned and barely glimpsed the tail of a dress whipping around the corner. _

"_Ambrose!" came the voice again. "Won't you play with me?"_

_He walked toward it and just as he was about to look around the wall, everything changed._

_Now he was outside in the freezing cold, new snow coming down in torrents with an icy wind helping. He was shaking, wishing for warmth, then, there it was. In his arms was something warm and heavy cuddled against him. He looked down to find the source and everything spun. _

_Colorful costumes and gentle music spun in a lazy circle and ----_

"Glitch. Come on let's go."

He sat up and rubbed his eyes. What a weird dream, it was like he was there or something.

"You ready to go?" DG asked him, standing away a little bit looking like she had been ready to go for quite a while.

Glitch pulled himself to his feet and yawned widely. Had he already given her his name yesterday? He really couldn't remember, but didn't she just call him Glitch? Yes, she did. Guess that answers that question.

"_A storm is coming." a lady with lavender eyes repeated over and over. "A storm is coming."_

_She was walking in darkness listening to a rhyme being sung. Little dolls spun in place hovering in the air. A bear growled, then she was sipping hot chocolate comfortably on a bed, watching a candle flicker against the wall. The candle died and she was sitting on a swing, rocking back and forth gently……_

DG jerked awake and her adventures from the previous day came rushing back like water in a dam. She had been thrown into a tornado by her parents, captured in a net by little savages, and was now taking directions from a man with a zipper in his head.

Yep, that just about sums it up.

She glances over at her guide. He was still asleep, laying on his back by a fairly large log.

Now what did he say his name was? The man in the ripped up overcoat twitches, apparently dreaming about something. Glitch, that was it, because an Azk-someone had took his brain for some reason.

DG thought about her dream. Was it just a dream or was it something more? She had the same one when one was at home. The lady, the singing, the spinning dolls. Ok, she had to admit, the Hot Chocolate part was new.

The sun shone through the trees and hit her in her still sleepy blue eyes. How much time had passed? They have to get moving if she was going to catch up to her parents.

"Glitch." she called to his sleeping figure, "Come on let's go."

To her surprise, he immediately sat up and started rubbing his eyes. Dang, if she could wake up that easily, she would never had been late to school for so many years.

"You ready to go?" DG asked and he stood up and yawned. Taking that as a yes, she starting strolling away, stifling a yawn as best as she could.


	3. Chapter 3

Wow, Glitch is so much harder to write than Ambrose! Maybe I should just go back to First Encounter……….

Just for the record, I DID separate the parts in the last two chapters, they must of got deleted while I was posting them. Sorry it has taken me so long to post another chapter, I , um, kind of got on to a Cumming Craze for a while. (guilty smile) but now I'm back! And desperately in need of inspiration!

One reason I am trying to keep close to the movie is two of the readers of this story has never watched Tin Man! That's right, Everybody gasp! (Thank You very much for reading though you have no idea what's going on!) (You know who you are!)

One last thing, before this becomes longer than the story, I am not aiming for DGxGlitch right now. Maybe later, maybe.

Second Encounter

Chapter 3

How big were these woods anyway? DG found herself wondering yet again. They must of already been walking for hours and there was no sign of the end or the old route to Central City.

Tiredly, she tripped over an exposed root for the fourth time in half an hour. And for the forth time in half an hour she heard the same response.

"Are you ok DG?"

She sighed and turned to face Glitch, who hadn't tripped once. Surprisingly. He just stood there with his head cocked to the side slightly, watching her intently.

"What?" she asked.

He blinked "Oh, nothing I was just trying to remember something." He said with a thoughtful look.

"Remember what?" the young, blue eyed woman was curious.

Glitch turned his wild head away, looking at the bark of a nearby tree. "I don't know."

His face turned blank. "I don't know." Blank. "I don't know." Blank. "I don't know."

"Glitch, you're repeating again." DG firmly stated, hoping that would snap him out of it. No such luck.

"I don't know." Blank. "I don't know." Blank.

She grabbed his arm. "Glitch?"

That didn't help, he just kept going and going like the Energizer Bunny. She was starting to worry, what if he would never come out of it? Time to panic.

"I don't kn--" SLAP!

The man with the tattered coat then fell silent. Um, did she hurt him? There was a bright red mark on his cheek………..

Glitch looked over at her. "Hi! The name's Glitch."

"Glitch! I'm sorry! You were glitching and wouldn't stop." She gave him a hug, hoping to amend the slap.

He glanced down at her in pure shock. Why was she hugging him? "I was?'

The thing that was at the rim of his mind, that he had been trying to remember earlier came forth.

_A small girl in a nightgown came forward and gave someone a hug. _

"_Good Night, Ambrose!"_

Who was this Ambrose? And why was there a sadness to that memory? Did something happen to the girl? Or this Ambrose guy? Why couldn't he remember?

DG was watching him.

"I-my noggin wasn't always this way, you know." Glitch started, gesturing with his hands, and they continued walking. "In my heyday, I was government advisor and numero one. I was the top dog's….." here he paused and figured out his directions. He stuck out his left hand. "…right hand man!"

DG stifled a laugh, he didn't seem to notice though and continued. "It would have all been fine, but her……"

Glitch stopped and glanced around with a confused, lost, look on. "The road is around here somewhere. I-I-I know it!."

The Inner-Zoner stopped and listened. She could of swore she had heard screaming and banging a second ago.

"You look familiar. Have we met before?" He asked with a smile.

She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Shh!" She listened again and this time heard a cry of help. "Did you hear that?"

Glitch nodded once "Yeah………No." he shook his head.

"Come on!" DG cried and drug him off toward the noise she had heard. Funny, that was familiar too.


	4. Chapter 4

Second Encounter

Chapter 4

At the top of the hill, a small cabin was visible and that was where the yells for help were coming from. A group of about a dozen men in black were terrorizing a family of three.

DG hid behind a tree and watched with wide eyes. "Those guys are everywhere" They are dressed just like the ones who attacked my home. Glitch caught up to her and together they watched the horror taking place below them.

The man of the family was being held tightly in place by his arms. His face had cuts that were bleeding and his blood was stained into his previously fresh clothes. One of the attackers, the blond one, wrapped a cloth around his knuckles and punched the man across the face with a force that snapped his face to the side.

DG and Glitch both jumped.

"That's life in the O.Z these days. Tough and tougher." Glitch sadly whispered, not able to look away from the horrible scene.

Below, a young boy ran in to help his parents and was knocked to the ground.

That was it. DG seized the closest branch and ran down the hill. Her companion yelled something after her, but she didn't care.

"Leave them alone!" She yelled and swung as hard as she could at the blond man……. who faded into thin air with everyone else.

………………………………...

Oh, cripes. She is going to get herself killed!

"DG!" He shouted trying to stop her, but to no avail, "This isn't your fight!"

She crashed into the battle and everything vanished, leaving an abandoned, grown up little house. Glitch slowed to a stop as she looked at him, puzzled.

"What just happened?" DG asked.

There was a low whining, if he could just locate it.. There! On that pole! He strided over and instantly recognized the gadget embedded in the wood. His long fingers slowly turned a knob on the side and the whining stopped. DG came over and he glanced at her.

"What is it?"

"A T.D.E.S.P.H.T.L." Wow he could remember this clearly. "It's a Tri-Dimition Energy Stored Projected Holographic Time Loop. Nifty little thing." yeah, like when recording a meeting or a lesson. That was why he- "Hey, I think I invented it."

"So it was all fake?"

"No," he answered confidently, "I-it happened, sometime or another." He looked back down at the contraption, how did it get out here?

"Why would they have it playing over and over again if there was no one here to watch it?" DG slowly started to check out her surroundings.

"Well, I think it-" Wait. What did he think? Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.

………………………………...

Hey, that tin container over there was odd, and man shaped. The twenty-annual-old tapped on it four times. Five taps responded.

"There's someone in there." She said and went off to search for something to help open it.

"Or something." she heard Glitch add.

Ah-ha, that hammer would work nicely. Returning, she tapped open the holding pins and removed them. The door opened with a puff of stale air, and inside was a man in filthy clothes with his skin and long hair coated in silver. He fell out.

"Are you ok?" DG asked, worried.

"Where are they?" came his hoarse reply.

………………………………...

They sat outside in silence and waited. The man, he said his name was Cain, had gone inside to see if he could find anything of use left in the wreck of a house.


	5. Chapter 5: Nice Night

Author's note: HI! Sorry it took so long, this is the longest Encounter chapter yet. I am trying to get back into the feel for this story so if it drags on to much, or is boring, Sorry. I'll try better next time.

Second Encounter

Chapter 5: A New Compainion and a Nice Night

" So he just had to stand there and watch as his family got tortured over and over?" DG asked quietly, watching with Glitch as Cain cleaned up at the little lake a dozen yards away.

"The most imaginative tortures are saved for those who resist Azkadellia" Her tattered, torn, and mostly brainless companion answered, then averted his eyes as she glanced at the zipper running down his scalp, clearly somewhat ashamed of it.

Cain stood and walked back toward them, his face clean and shaven, his blond hair trimmed short. He now worn clean, neat clothes that had been salvaged from the decrepit small cabin.

As he came closer, DG called curiously: "How long were you trapped in there?"

Not stopping, he nodded to a tree beside them, "Ever since that was a sapling."

She and Glitch both tilted their heads back to look to the top of the thirty-foot tree.

"Sooo," Glitch whispered, "quite a while…"

Cain paused, and after a halting silence said "Much obliged for the help" then continued on to the side of the cabin.

"You're welcome Mr. Cain," DG trailed after him, Glitch not far behind, " Um, I'm DG by the way and this is--"

" I know," Cain cut her off while digging through the weeds and vines on the ground, "a Headcase."

Glitch chuckled with a slight grin. " I have a proper name you know……….." a thoughtful/trying-to- remember look came over his face and after a minute the smile dropped, "…And when I remember I will tell you."

"What's a Headcase?"

"It's what the state does to reeducate criminals," The blond man was now pulling on a gun holster, "They rip out their brains, making them prisoners of their own minds."

DG looked back at the 'Headcase', his mouth was open slightly like he was about to speak in protest, but then dropped his head.

Cain slowly lifted a toy lead horse from the beat up box. He rubbed his fore finger down it's painted mane, then tucked it into his vest. Next, he pulled out a tin star, which soon joined the worn toy.

"Ain't that right convict?" he shot.

"Hey! Whoa!" Glitch exclaimed and came closer to call after Cain's back as the man went to get something. "I ain't no convict!," He paused "And just in case I am it was a bogus charge, a frame job, I'm sure of it!"

Cain came back with a old trench coat and a hat. "Yeah, well, I'll see you down the road."

Glitch nodded smartly, but DG came running over to them. "Well, actually, a road is what we're looking for. We're looking for the Bri…" she turned to Glitch and they both finished the sentence, "Brick Route. Which leads to a place called Cen…." once again he helped confirm the info, "Central City. Do you know of it?"

"Yeah, it's where Zero headed after…………." he gazed up at them, "It's where I heading now." He walked off and once again DG came after him with Glitch tagging along.

"Great! We'll go with you."

"I got business, besides, I don't travel with kids or convicts."

"Uh, I'm not a kid, and the people who came to your house came to mine, I'm just looking for my parents."

"And I'm looking for my brain." Glitch inserted.

"And maybe we can--"

"Maybe we can what?" Cain cut her off, "Find my wife? My boy? They're gone. Probably just like your folks are."

………………………………...

"Look, nothing personal, kid," the man said to DG, "but look at you, first sign of trouble and you're just gonna cut and run."

Glitch looked at her, was this the same girl he was talking about? Surely not. The girl he was looking at now had dangled from a hundred feet fearlessly, ran after what seemed like armed guards with just a stick, and boldly opened a tin suit with this guy in it. Plus, he highly doubted she would cut and run without a fight, she had quite a spirit.

"Nothing personal, but when we found you, you were in a tin box." score for DG. "You don't know me. Come on Glitch, we'll find the way ourselves"

They started making their way across the grassy field, leaving the Cain-guy behind.

"The way?" Cain's voice followed him, "The way leads across the fields of the papayas."

Uh, oh. Glitch froze and turned back "p-papaya?" Weren't that those creatures who…….DG stopped and looked back at him and he shook his head.

"What!" She threw her arms up in the air with such an expression he almost laughed, "I've been tossed into a storm, trussed up by lawn gnomes, chased by madmen on horseback." she stomped over to them, "how bad can papayas be?"

The tattered man shrugged, not certain about what he thought he knew.

Cain, however, knew perfectly well, " I seen them gnaw people in half in under thirty seconds."

Glitch and DG glanced at each other.

The blond sighed, then, "Zipperhead keep your mouth shut,"

_Zipperhead?! How mean! I don't talk that much…….._

"And kid, you stay behind me,"

DG went closer, "Why the sudden change of heart?"

"Trust me," he answered, " heart has got nothing to do with it."

………………………………...

_The world was spinning, tracks led on forever through the deep snow, a doll in a green dress spun in place, the yawning abyss of a cave entrance, a voice that--_

DG sat up and rubbed her head. Why was she having such weird dreams? She shook it off and looked around.

The three of them had walked til it was dark, luckily they had just reached the edge of the forest by then. That was where they were now. It was still dark, but she could still see pretty well thanks to the moon. Cain was asleep with his hat over his eyes and Glitch was laying a couple of yards off--wait. DG did a double take.

That wasn't Glitch, it was just his coat.

She raised her eyebrow, where did he disappear off to?

……………………………….

He was laying on his back in the open field they had crossed earlier, gazing at the clear star-studded sky. Man, they were gorgeous tonight. Shining so bright, an impression was left behind when he finally looked away.

What was left of his mind ran over what he could remember of the last two days happily, he was no longer alone like he had been for so long. Of course Cain was a tad scary, and clearly believed he was a convict and DG was always charging ahead so determined to reach her goal, he was always running to keep up. But still, it was far better than his life in the last……how long?

The next matter to ruminate on was that odd, familiar feeling he kept getting ever since DG had appeared.

Soon his dark eyes were closing and a cool wind blew by. " A cup of Hot Chocolate would be nice," he muttered to himself, half- asleep, " It seems like forever since I….had….."

His body surrendered and in a full sleep he fell.


	6. Chapter 6: To Save or be Saved?

There is more to this, but I got in a wreck today and didn't feel like typimg anymore. It'll be in the next chapter. I promsied mysef I wouldn't beg but...PLEASE REVIEW! I can not write without reviews. (sadly). I wish to thank all those who suffer through my stories and still come back.

Second Encounter

Chapter 6: To Save or be Saved?

DG was running as fast as she could. She stole a glance over her shoulder to see the tree/ dog creatures getting closer.

A gunshot, then a high-pitched squeal. Cain was behind her shooting at the, at the, what had he called them? Oh yes, papayas.

She kept going at top speed, feeling a stitch grow in her side. Ahead of her, only a glimpse or two of Glitch could be seen weaving through the bare trees, he tattered coat flying out behind him.

_How can he just keep running like this? _She thought, panting.

Suddenly, the ground ended. DG nearly didn't skid to a stop in time.

"Wrong Turn." Glitch stampered out beside her.

Her blue eyes peered over the edge, and discovered it was hundreds of feet to the river below.

The growls and gunfire was getting closer and the furry man that she had completely forgotten about fearfully looked back then jumped.

DG and Glitch both watched his descent with a open mouth.

Cain reached them, still firing off shots at the papayas.

"Jump!" he yelled at them.

"The fall might kill us!" Glitch pointed out worriedly.

_And if it don't, I can't swim!_ DG added in her mind frantically.

"Well, they definitely will!" he fired a final time and came to join them on the edge of the cliff, "On the count of three. One."

"Three!" screamed Glitch and all three of them leapt off the cliff just as the creatures reached them.

As she fell, it seemed like everything had frozen and her fear had stayed up on the cliff. It all came rushing back, though, as she hit the icy water.

………………………………...

As he fell, Glitch glanced over at his also falling companions and a single thought went through his half-empty head:

DG can't swim.

The impact really hurt, but he could already see the black headed girl sinking. Taking a deep breath, the Zipperhead dived after her dark outline.

The water was so murky he could barely see a foot in front of his face, none the less, very soon he reached her. DG was thrashing, trying to get afloat and Glitch couldn't get a hold of her. _Calm down, _he thought, _I'm trying to help._ One of her feet hit him in the chest making him gasp and filling his lungs with water instead of the precious air from before.

Everything was getting dark, but finally the former adviser got a good grip on her shirt and started to pull them upward, when one of DG's still-attempting-to-swim-but-failing-dismally arms whacked him hard in the side of the head.

Glitch's face went blank and his thin body relaxed, slowly sinking toward the riverbed.

_Who am I? Oh, yeah, Glitch. Now, where am I? And why can't I see?_

His vision was completely dark now and his lungs where almost full of the murky water.

_Man, am I tired! _Floated sluggishly across his mind, _I wonder if DG and Cain are already asleep._

Glitch's eyes widened as his mind straighten out.

_No! I don't want to die! I was suppose to be saving DG!_

He swam upward, pushing on his screaming, air-depraved body.

Something grabbed his arm and helped.

………………………………...

That knucklehead! Going to save DG, but ends up needing to be saved!

Cain half drug the drenched Glitch onto the shore where DG was waiting with her hair and clothes clinging to her (he had pulled her out a few minutes before)

"Is he ok? Is he going to be alright?" she asked, scared at the way he was coughing weakly.

"He'll be fine," he answered, "He just got his lungs full."

The blonde watched the semi-conscious man before him. He was the kid's friend. That was the only reason he saved this headcase. He personally didn't trust, like, or traveled with convicts, they were only trouble and this one proved no different.


	7. Chapter 7: Unbeknowst to Me

**Author's note:** First off, please don't kill me for taking so long. Second, sorry it is so short, but something is better than nothing right? Right?!

Second Encounter

Chapter 7: Unbeknownst to Me

"Glitch,' she was crouched down next to the drenched man, it had been a few minutes since they all had been dragged out of the lake, "Are you ok?'

He nodded, breathing normally now and watching her worriedly. "Are you ok? You have never been able to swim."

DG glanced out at the water. "Yeah, I tried once to learn but…" her bright eyes whipped back around to lock on him.

"Wait. I haven't said anything about that to you. How did you know?

Glitch lifted his dark eyes to the clear sky and pondered for a second. "You know, I have no idea." he smiled, but it soon faded into puzzlement "It felt like I've always known."

"But that's not possible we just met a few days ago, and--"

The raggedly dressed man wasn't listening, his face had become calm and expressionless.

"--I've never been here before."

The Zipperhead blinked, then gave his head a shake sending drops of water everywhere.

"Glitch!" DG exclaimed, covering her face as the cold liquid hit her drying skin.

He looked over and his face lit up happily. "Oh! Hi! Have we met before? Why am I wet?"

DG sighed, she had been so close to unlocking another clue to the puzzle. Glitch's glitches always seemed to happen at the worst times.

"You went for a swim" She said sadly as he tilted his head slightly.


	8. Chapter 8: Raw

**Author's note:** Ok I am very very very sorry. You have been waiting on me to stop being so lazy and distractable and I am sorry. From now on I 'll try to pay more attention to these stories and update a lot more often like I use to. This chapter closely follows this scence and I am sorry. I hope you keep reading, even if this is horrible. If you really wish to stick with me on this tale I would appricate it if you would review, that always inspire me to write more. *fingers crossed*

Second Encounter

Chapter Eight: Raw

DG sat down on a mossy rock by the fire they had managed to make, and stuck her freezing hands over the warm flame to unfreeze them. Beside her Glitch was shivering under his tattered coat that didn't seem to make much of a deference.

She was still finding it hard to believe that she, little miss terrified of anything higher than a yard off the ground and being more than three feet in water, had actually leapt off that huge cliff.

Of course it was either that or being eaten……..

She looked up from the dancing fire and noticed the furred man they had rescued earlier was sitting far from the warmth with his back to them.

"Hey, you want to come closer to the fire?" DG asked nicely, "Warm up?"

"You should of left me to die." He answered in a broke voice, not turning around.

"Oh, great," Glitch muttered, pulling his arms out from under the coat to rest on top, "A basket case."

DG ignored him, she stood and walked over to the strange, furred creature. He didn't move, so she came closer and slowly placed a small, pale hand on his arm.

A soft growl came from his throat, then he suddenly seized her hand between his own.

The quick, unexpected movement sent Glitch stumbling hurriedly toward her, and Cain dropped the armful of wood he was carrying and pulled out his gun, aiming it at the creature.

"Stay right there!" he commanded.

DG raised her free hand to halt her friends. "It's ok, we're all friends here." she spoke calmly.

The shaggy-lion type creature loosened his grip on her hand and placed one of his his lightly on top of it.

"You are sad," his voice was rough, but gentle, "Miss your mother. Father."

DG nodded, surprised he knew this. How could he? Would this place ever become easier to understand?

"They miss you." he continued, still gripping her hand lightly.

She leaned forward so that she was eye to eye with him.

"My name's DG. What's yours?"

………………………………..........................................

The furry-man-thing looked at her and using a stick scratched something out in the dirt at his feet.

Glitch peered over DG's shoulder to see.

"Raw." he read shortly. Hm. DG turned her blue eyes to him and he tilted his head, "Well, it's certainly to the point."

He heard the thing growl at him.

"You're injured." DG said suddenly and reached toward a circular wound just visible through the long hair on his head.

It moved away from her touch.

"He's a viewer." Cain stated.

DG seemed lost.

"Uh, viewers are like psychics," Glitch started explaining, glad he still remembered something clearly, "but instead of seeing with their minds, they see with their hearts." he moved closer and continued, "Azkadee abducts their kind. Get's her alclumist to suck the second sight right out of their heads."

He gestured at the sore and Raw swatted his hand away.

"He could be a big help." the black haired girl said after a minute.

Cain had moved away and was picking up all the wood he dropped. Did they really need all that wood? Glitch didn't mind. He liked being warm.

_I wish we had some mutlug….. I think that's a soup……._

……………………………….................................

"Look, I don't know where you came from," Cain said matter-of-factly to DG, " But if you have any interest in staying alive in the O.Z. you better get one fact straight real fast." He stood and turned to her "Trust no one."

She seemed to have a real problem with that, first with the Zipperhead, then himself, and now with this viewer she just met and knew next to nothing about. If she had ran into anyone else, she would have been dead by now, she was far too trusting.

He watched her look sadly at the viewer, and turned away knowing they had inadvertently picked up another member to this insane little group.

Cain felt a pain shoot up his leg and found himself on the ground a second later. Dang! He had forgotten about that!

The Headcase ran over and lifted his coat up to see the two puncture wounds in his upper leg that a paupay had given him before he had blown it's brains out.

"Let's hope those runners didn't have fang pox!" he heard the Zippercase say worriedly.

Raw timidly moved closer, holding some moss, "Heal wound. Soothe." He placed it on the wound and held it in place, despite Cain's protests.

The blond clenched his teeth in pain.

"Brave man," the viewer said quietly, eyes closed and Cain turned to face him. "Good man," he paused and glanced upward at Glitch, "Tin Man."

The tattered man tossed his head up. " Oh, I might of known you were a Tin Man!" he plopped down on a nearby log, "What with that attitude."

"What's a Tin Man?" DG asked, lost once again.

"It's what they call policemen in Central city." the headcase answered, then paused uncertainly. "At least I think it is."

The Kid turned her bright, blue eyes to him.

"You're a cop?"

"Was"

How did those eyes always seem to get the answers they wanted?

"Til Zero found out I was part of the resistance. You saw the rest."


	9. Chapter 9: Broken Road

Second Encounter

Chapter 9: Broken Path

How long has they been walking? He was tired. He looked up at the larger sun through the sparse leaves above. Wow the sun was defiantly lower in the sky then it was when they had left camp earlier, or at least he thought it was.

"Hey, How about a pitstop Cain?" Glitch asked as he wavered unsteadily on his feet and the tin man pasted him by.

_How can he have so much stamina after being in a tin box for annuals? I'm tired. _….that spot under that tree looks nice….

"No time." Cain said briskly.

He groaned, "Oh, come on tin man!" he growled tiredly, "Have a heart!" The blonde looked back at him with an annoyed look. "Well! I'm a thinker, not a hiker." he said defensively.

DG and that furry guy -what was his name? Grr? Roar? Oh, well- stopped beside him and the other-sider nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, we could all use a rest."

Glitch looked at her happily and nodded. She agreed with him! Yay! The hardheaded tin man sometimes listened to her. Maybe they could get a rest now.

_Oh! Rock in shoe! Rock in shoe!_

The headcase hobbled over to a convenient rock, leaned on it with one hand and dug the painful object out with the other. Why do rocks exist? Really?

She glanced over at Glitch as he leaned up on a moss covered stone with markings on the side. Then she did a double take. It looked exactly like something she had seen in a dream a few weeks ago, but how is that possible?

She remembered drawing the stone in her sketch pad, and he dad coming to talk to her saying….

"All of life's answers are found along the old road."

What does that mean and why did she remember that old saying her dad always said?

"Did you just say old road?" she heard Cain ask. Oops. Guess she said it out loud and didn't realize it.

DG looked at him with bright blue eyes. He turned more to face her.

"That is what the locals call the brick road. I thought you said you never been here before?"

She knew she had never been in this strange world, she defiantly would of remembered it, but she still felt oddly familiar with it.

"I haven't been here before," she replied slowly, picking her words. "but I know this place."

She had to figure this out. She ran down the broken yellow tiled path in front of them, hoping that maybe the answers would suddenly come to her and everything would finally make sense.

**AN: Hey, look! I'm still alive! Wow it has been a really long time since I have updated this story and I know the chapter is short. I am sorry I had totally forgotten about these until I got a review on Mid Encounter the other day. (Nag me, it works) I am also working on a mid encounter chapter, which should be up soon if you are interested. Please Review!**


	10. Chapter 10: From a Distance

Second Encounter

Chapter 10: From A Distance

**AN: Time for more of Glitch's POV! Yay! T.T.*cries***

"_Well,"_ he thought to himself, "_Things had gotten interesting since DG had appeared_."

He watched from a distance as his new friend went through a rainbow of expressions as she talked to her parents, no, that's not right….what did that blonde woman say? Oh yeah, 'nurture units'.

Somehow he found he wasn't really surprised at all to find out that those two had no actual relation to DG. They just seemed kinda…..wrong when he pictured them as a family. DG was such an impulsive person that Glitch figured her parents would be more like her, stubborn and not….robots.

Something glimmered in the bright sunlight and caught his eye.

He cocked his head with curiosity.

'_Now what is that? Is that just scrap metal? Well, with all of these mechanical people around I guess parts can just lay around and-'he_ paused and blinked_, _completely losing his train of thought_, "I wonder where DG is. That tree over there looks like it could be an apple tree…." _

"My life is a lie!" came a frustrated voice that sounded familiar.

Glitch turned his messy head in that direction.

_Oh! There she is! I guess the robot-nurture things had some bad news for the blue-eyed girl._

He frowned. He didn't like DG to be upset.

The former advisers face lit up as an idea came to him. He could go check out that maybe-an-apple-tree and see if it really was an apple tree, and then give them to her if it was.

He grinned happily.

Apples make everything better.

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO**

Glitch set off suddenly, leaving Raw to watch his departure with confusion.

'_Mmm, big juicy apples are so delicious. I can barely remember the last tim—'_

THUMP!

Glitch sat up, spiting dried leaves and dirt out of his mouth. What did he trip over?

Using his long, thin hands he dug around at his feet and pulled out a filthy object that was only as big as one of his hands. It was in the shape of a heart. Distracted from his original mission, the man started brushing off the dirt to see what it really was.

Flecks of gold started to become visible, and his breathing increased.

There was something about this thing.

Something too familiar.

More dirt fell away and through the golden beads woven tightly together, a dull light could be seen.

Glitch froze. Staring with wide eyes. He knew this! He did! With now frantic fingers he tore at the dirt and debris, rubbing the object on his tattered jacket to get the harder pieces off.

The light now shone brightly, showing off a mini rainbow contained in the handmade heart.

The voice of the unknown child that has been haunting him came again like a whisper from the past.

"_Happy Sweetheart's Day, Ambrose!"_

He took a shaking breath; there was something about that voice that made him feel like his chest had been ripped opened. He clenched at his heart with his free hand, attempting to keep an invisible hole from opening.

"_I love the heart! I am going to keep it always!"_

His vision of the beaded heart in his hand blurred as tears filled his eyes and trailed down his cheeks.

Why couldn't he remember? That person must of meant a lot to him once, but now only the painful feelings were left, with no memories except for a faint voice…..

Glitch wiped his wet face on his sleeve and slowly stood up.

After a brief hesitation, he placed the object in his pocket.

Apple tree forgotten, he walked back toward the run down village. Wondering to himself what else had been taken from him when his mind had been ripped away.

**AN: Ok, this chapter went a whole different way then what I had planned, but I think it turned out oK. ^.^ I changed the POV to Thirdish there at the end because Glitch can be hard to write for. Oh! Can anybody guess about the heart? Anybody remember it? Bwhahahaha! Another thing from the past! Now that I am done with school and stuff for a loooonnnngggg time I can work on this again. Yay! If anyone is still following this, I LOVE YOU! Please review, it makes me very very happy!**


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